Trolley-wire apparatus.



Patented Jah. 4, 1916.

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WI H. KEMPTON.

TROLLEY WIRE' APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 1912.

Patented J an. 4,1916.

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WILLABD H. KEN1-Bron, or MANsFIELD, OHIO. Assieivon To T Hn VorujoBItAss COMPANY, or MANSFIELD, 01110, A, oonroItA'lIoN on Aivnvv JERSEY.

TROLLEY-Wma APPARATUS.

paratus and has more particular `reference toV improvements in apparatusof the class known as frogs, crossings and the like.

4@ne of the objects of my invention is to provide an improved device ofthis character which will be simple vand durable in construction andeffective and eicient in operation.

'A further object of my invention 'listo provide an improved trolleywire frog or like device, the parts of which vare inter-V related and'arranged in such manner that they maybe manufactured as castings readyfor assemblage and installation Without any preliminary or preparatoryexpensive machine work and without the need of bolts, nuts and otherseparate fastening devices for holding the parts in their assembledrelations.

To the attainment of these ends and the accomplishment of other lnew anduseful objects hereinafter appearing, my invention consists in thefeatures of novelty disclosed in the construction, combination andarrangement of parts herein dscribed and claimed, and shown in theaccompanying drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of my inventionand wherein;

Figure l is a top plan view. of a. so-called trolley-wire frog embodyingmy invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view in side elevation of the end portion of thefrog shown in Fig.

1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 8 3 of Fig. l.Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view on the line 4 4: of Fig. l. Fig. 5is a transverse sectional view on the lineeof Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is aperspective view of the removable tip and clamping member hereinaftermore fully explained.

The device shown inthe vdrawiregs and illustrating one embodiment of myinvention is a so-callcd trolley frog used in overhead trolleyconstruction for taking off a branch trolley wire from the main trolleywire, and, while I will describe my inven- Speccation of Letters Patent.lApplication led April 8, 1912-. Serial Np. 689,219.

Patented, Jan. 4, 19,16.

.tion in connection with this frog,it will be obvious to one skilled inthe art aftery having obtained an understanding of my invention from thedisclosures herein made, that my invention is not limitedor restrictedtothe particular structureshown but on the contrary is applicable toother types of trolley wire apparatus, such as crossings, strain platesand vthe like, wherein analogous requirements are tobe met.

Referring now to the drawings, it will be seen that this Yfrog has apeculiarly formed body member A adapted to be positioned at the junctureof a branch` trolley wire B and the main trolley wire v C, and, as is.well known, to serve as means for connecting the branch wire V'to themain trolley wire. Itis generally advisable to guy or. anchor devices ofthis' character so that the trolley wires will be firmly held yagainstany swinging movement, and for this reason the body member A maybeprovided with a number of eyelugs l to Vwhich the usual guy wires may beconveniently attached.' In the structure shown lin the drawings the bodymem-` ber has astraight channel or groove 2 running thezfull lengththereof for the reception ofthe main. trolleywire C, and it also Y theplate and screwedinto the body memberV A. lIf desired, as'a furtherprecautiona pull-off may bel attached to the end 6yof theibranch trolleywire to take up any longi- .A l

tudinal strains thereon. A central opening 7 may be provided in the bodymember for the purpose of reducing the weight thereof,

the bridge portion S'which is left serving admirably to preventfthe..trolley wheel from wedging `in Vbetween the wire lchannel portions ofthe body member, in the event that 4the wheel leaves the trolley wires.The end portions of the main and branch Wire @hannels are deeper thanand drop below the central portion thereof, so as to provide a suitableunde 1rainning portion or surface 9, this surface being rounded off onits underside so as to properly accommodate the trolley wheel (see Figs.2, 4l and 5.) It will be obseved that in a device of this character, itis desirable that the end portions of the body member where the trolleywires enter or leave their channels, be maintained firmly in contactwith the trolley wires, so that there will be no bumps or raisedportions in the continuity of the trolley line, but the walls of thetrolley wire channels at the extreme ends 10 thereof, must of necessitybe of suflicient thickness to withstand the blows to which they aresubjected by the trolley wheel.'

l provide simple and durable mechanism which not only relieves the bodymember or casting of wear but operates to clamp and firmly hold theparts in position on the trolley wire more particularly at the endsthereof. rfhis mechanism may be spoken of as auxiliary clampingmechanism D, and preferably is of tic form shown in Fig. (i. lt isarranged to operate in conjunction with the body member A and ispositioned. preferably at the end portions of the trolley wire channels.lt will be seen that this member D has a cam shaped portion 12 at oneend which sets into the trolley wire channel at a short distance backfrom the end thereof. At its other end it has a portion D1 which isformed to embrace the trolley wire immediately adjacent the end of thebody member. rlhese parts, as is obvious, may be integrally formed as asingle casting. rThe portion D1 constitutes a tip or wear extensionwhich takes up the wear due to the action of the trolley wheel andthereby preserves the body member. rllie members l) are relatively smallin comparison with the body member and can be manufactured very cheaply,hence they may be renewed at comparatively little expense. lThe lips 13are preferably arranged so that they may be formed around orotherwiseattached directly to the trolley Wire, and if desired solder may be usedin addition. The inner ends 14 of the lips are substantially as thick asthe wall of the wire channel in the body member at the end 10 thereof,so that when the lips 13 are bent around the trolley wire, they will lieflush with the underrunning surface 9. The lips 13. as is seen, aregradually thinned or tapered toware their outer ends 15, so that theypractically merge into the surface of the trolley wire, and in this wayform an easy approach for the trolley wheel.

@n account of the fact that the channels of the body member must be openthroughout their length at thetop so as to permit the trolley wires tobe laid therein or removed therefrom, the members D are made demountableor removable. |This may be done by the use of pivot bolts or otherwise,but as previously stated, one of the objects of my invention is to avoidmachine work. and for thisvreason l extend the walls of the wirechannels upwardly so as to form undercut lugs or hooks 16 (Figs. 1, 2, 3and Ll) which as is seen are spaced apart and do not obstruct theentrance to the channels. rThe cam ends of the members D have laterallyprojecting pivot-studs 17 eccentrically positioned thereon. These studsare adapted to be passed through or into the slots 18 formed by theundercut lugs 16 and seated in pivotal engagement with said lugs. Thusthe members D may be quickly andV conveniently placed in position orremoved therefrom without the need of handling bolts, nuts and the like.Y

rlhe pivot studs have end collars 19 which lie outside of the lugs 16and prevent the lugs from bending outwardly when subjected to theclamping strains. That portion fO of the periphery ofthe cam 12 whichengages the trolley u ires is grooved to prevent relative lateraldisjiilaceinent of the member D and the Wire. lt Awill thus be seen thatthe members D in conjunction with the body member form rotary wedges orclamps which firmly clamp the trolley wires against the bottom walls 21of their channels, more particularly at the extreme ends thereof, as is.shown in Fig. 3. 'lhelclamping member' is so proportioned that the wirewill always be bent slightly downward \elow its level at the end of thechannel or groove and thus insure a firm bearing against the bottom ofthe groove where it leaves the body casting. rlhe wire does not bear onthe bottom of the groove at a point immediately under the cam pivot andthus provision is made for variations in the cast Y parts. rllhe bodymember may be placed in position from below the wires, as previouslymentioned, and the clamping members may then be placed in pivotalengagement with the lugs 16 while they are at about the angle shown inthe dotted lines in Fig. 3. ly

rotating the members l) the cam ends there- 'f of clamp the trolleywires firmly in their channels. The rotation of the members ll in thismanner brings the wear portions il `down into position on the trolleywires rlChe A adjacent the ends of the body member. lips 13 may then beformed around the wire and soldered, if desired, thus directly lockingthe rotary clamps to the trolley wires. As a further precaution, thewalls of the wire channel adjacent the extreme ends thereof may beextended upwardly to form bendable lugs 23, which may be bent over intoengagement (Fig. 5) with the menibers D by the blow of a hammer, thusadditionally locking the members D in position.

integra YThe advantages of my improved structure are obvious. The bodymember may be formed as a single casting ready for use without the needof any machine work eX- cept the drilling and threading of a hole forthe main clamping bolt 5. In like manner the renewable members D may beformed as single castings, requiring no machine work to place them incondition for use. The renewable members D are sufficiently large toenable a man to handle them conv veniently without fear of dropping andlosing them while he is installing' a frog in position, and the facilitywith .which the members D may be attached to or detached from the bodymember is particularly advantageous from av 'manufacturing andinstalling standpoint. Furthermore, the life of the appartus ismaterially increased since those parts (the wear members) which aresubjected to the greatest wear may be readily and cheaply renewed.

I claimz- Y l. In a device or. the class described, the

combination of a body member adapted for attachment to a trolley wireand having a channel therein for the wire, a separate detachable wearextension adapted to be positioned on the trolley wire on the end or'the said body member, and a rotary wedge formed on said wear member andpivotally mounted on said body member for clamping thel wire in itschannel. f

2. In a device of the class described, a body member having a wirereceiving channel, in combination with a rotary member pivoted on saidbody member for clamping the wire in its channel, and having an eX-tension projecting beyond the end of said body member and adapted to besecured to the wire after the rotary member has been rotated to itsclamping position.

3. In a device of the class described, a rbody member having 'anopen-top, wire-re ceiving channel, vin combination with a rotary clampdetachably mounted on said body member and adapted to clamp the trolleywire in its channel when rotated to a given position, and an extensionon said rotary clamp arranged to be secured to the trolley wire and holdsaid clamp in its clamping position.

i. In a device of the class described, a body member having an open-top,wire-receiving channel, in combination with a rotary clamp detachablymounted on said body member and adapted tovclamp the trolley wire in itschannelafter being rotated to a given position, and a wear extensionmember arranged to embrace and to be secured to the trolley wireadjacent the end of said bodV member for locking said clamping member inits clamping position and for taking up the wear on said device.

5. In a device of the class described, :the

combination of a body member having a wire-receiving channel, a clampingmember eccentrically pivoted'on said body member and adaptedto berotated to clamp the wire firmly in said channel, and means carried bysaid clamping member for direct attachment to the trolley Wire to locksaid clamping member in its clamping position.

z3. In a device of the class described, the combination oi' a bodymember having a wire-receiving channel, a clamping member eccentricallypivo-ted on said body member and adapted to be rotated to clamp the wireiirmly in said channel, and an integral eX- tension on said clampingmember adapted to be formed around the trolley wire after said clampingmember has been rotated to its clamping position. I

7. Ina device of the class described, the combination with a bodymember, a rotary clamp mounted on said body having means adapted to berotated into position with said clamp and then attached directly to thetrolley wire to lock said clamp.

l8. In a device oi the class described, a body member having arelatively deep wirereceiving channel open at its top, a cam'y memberpivoted on said body member and adapted to ce rotated to a clampingposition, and an integral j extension on said cam 'formed for attachment.directlv to the trol ley wire after said cam has been rotated to itsclamping position and constituting an eX- tension of said body memberfor taking up theV wear.

9. In a device of the class described, the combination of a bodyv memberadapted to be positioned on the' trolley wire and having a continuouschannel into which the trolley wire may be placed, a demountableextension adapted to be attached directly to the trolley wire adjacentthe end of said body member I and having a cam portion pivotedon saidbody member for clamping the trolley wire in its channel. Y

10. In a device of the class described,'the combination of a body memberhavin'g an open-top, wire-receiving channel whereby it may be mountedinposition onvthe trolley wire without severing the continuityof thewire, rotary clamps mounted on said body member and positioned adjacentthe ends thereof for clamping thetrolley wire against the bottom wallVoit theV channel, extension wearnmembers on said clamps adapted, byrotation of the clampsto clamping position, to be alined with thetrolley wire and directly attached thereto, whereby to lock said clampsin position and to protect the body member from the wear incident to thetravel of the trolley wheel.

1l. In a device of the class described, the l combination of a bodymember having an open-top, wire-receiving channel whereby it may bemounted 1n position on the trolley lisc Ele'

wire without severing the continuity of the wire, rotary clamps mountedon said body member and positioned adjacent the ends thereof forclamping the trollev wire against the bottom wall of the channel,extension wear members on said clamps adapted, by rotation of the clampsto clamping position, to be alined with the trolley wire for directattachment thereto, whereby to loch said clamps in position and toprotect the body member from the wear incident to the travel of thetrolley wheel, and demountable means intermediate the ends of said bodymember for clamping said device to the w'ire.

l2. ln a device of the class described, a body plate having an open-topchannel into which the wire may be laid, a cam member removably pivotedon said body member for clamping the trolley wire in the bottom oi itschannel, and a locking member carried by said cam and rotatabletherewith into direct engagement with the trolley wire whereby it may beattached thereto and locl said cam against rotation.

13. ln a device of the class described a body member having a channelfor the trolley wire, in combination with undercut lugs on said bodymember, and a rotary clamp member removably pivoteo in said lugs forclamping;` the trolley wire in its channel, and having an extensionmember directly attachable to the trolley wire.

le. ln a device of the class described, a body member having a channelfor the trolley wire open at its top, in combination with upstandinglugs on said body member disposed on each side of said channel andhaving undercut slots therein, a renewable clamp having a clampingmember rotatably pivoted in said slots andhaving means ydirectlyattachable to the trolley wire for locking said clamp and for taking upthe wear on said device.

l5. ln a device of the class described, a body member having a channelfor the trolley wire open at its top, in combination with upstandingvlugs on said body member disposed on each side of said channel andhaving undercut slots therein, a renewable clamp having a clampingmember rotatably pivoted in said slots, and having a wear extensionadapted to be formed around the trolley adjacent the end of body memberand preventing said clamp from accidentally unclamping.

1G. ln a device of the class described, a body member having a channelfor the trolley wire open at its top, in combination with upstandinglugs on said body member disposed on each side of said channel andhaving undercut slots therein, and a cam member ia-ving pivot lugsremovably mounted in said slots and having an extension adapted to beformed around the wire.

17. A trolley frog or like device of the class described comprising abody member formed as a single casting and having a wire receivingchannel open at its upper side, in combination with a cast metal,one-piece clamping member positioned above the wire f and having aportion adapted to be bent around the trolley wire, and a cam-shapedportion positioned in said channel, integral upstanding lugs on saidbody member having open undercut slots, and integral pivot studs on saidcam removably seated in said slots.

18. ln a. device of the class described, a body member having awire-receiving channel upon the end portion of the bottom wall ofwhichtvhe vtrolley wire rests, said bottom wall having' a Adepressedportieri removed from the end or the channel, in combination with arotary clamp removably mounted on said body above said depressed portionand adapted to bear upon and slightly spring the wire into saiddepressed portion, whereby the v-.ire will be i'irmly clamped againstthe end portion olf the bottom wall, and a wear extension on said clampprojecting beyond the end oi.I the body and adapted to be directlyattached to the trolley wire atter the lamp has been rotated to clampingposition.

19. The combination or a body plate having an open-top channel intowhich the wire may be laid,

cam member removably pivoted to said body member for clamping` thetrolley wire in the bottom of its channel, and a locking member carriedby said cam yle therewith into direct engagement with the 'trolley wirewhereby it may be attach ed thereto and lock said cam against rotation,a removable clamp member on said body member operable in conjunctionwith said cam member to prevent the relative longitudinal movement ofsaid body plate and trolley wire, and fastenings on said body platewhereto guy wires may be attached.

rEhe combination of a body member having a relatively thin,bottom-walled channel open at its top through which the trolley wirepasses, and means for clamping said body member in position on thetrolley wire, comprising rotary cams detachably mounted adjacent theside of said channel and adapted to press the wire in firm Contact withthe bottom wall of the channel whereby said bottom wall will formpractically a continuation ot the trolley wire, and means attachable tothe trolley wire adjacent the ends of said channel for locking said camsin their clamping position.

2l. The combination of a trolley wire-receiving member, a removablerotary wedge adapted to clamp the trolley wire in position upon saidmember, and a bendable member on said receiving member for locking saidwedge in position.

rlhe combination of a metal casting having upstanding walls forming awire-receiving groove therebetween, integral members formed on saidwalls, a clamping device adapted to be placed in pivotal engagement withsaid members and rotated to clamp the engagement with said clampingdevice.

2a. The combination of a metal casting having an open-top wire channel,integral upstanding members formed on said casting on opposite sides ofsaid channel and spaced apart so as not to interfere with the removal orreplacement of the trolley wire, saidmembers being undercut, awire-clamping rotary cam having pivotal studs adapted for detachableengagement with ,said members, and an integral lug on Said castingadapted to be bent into engagement with said cam to lock it in position.

Q5. The combination with a body member, a. rotary clamp mounted on saidbody having means adapted to be rotated into position with said clampand then attached directly to the trolley wire, and means integral withsaid body member for locking said clamp and means in position.

26. The combination with va body member, a rotary cla-mp mounted on saidbody having means adapted to be rotated into position with said clampand then attached directly to the trolley wire, and a lug on said bodymember adapted to be bent over to lock said clamp and means after theyhave been rotated into position.

27. rlhe combination of a body member, a pivotally mounted lever havinga wire clamping cam adjacent its pivotal point for clamping the wire onthe body member and having means adjacent its other end for directattachment to the trolley Wire after the lever has rotated the cam intoclamping pov sition, and means integral with said body member forlocking said lever in the position to which it has been rotated.

28. The combination of a body member, a pivotally mounted lever havingawire clamping cam adjacent its pivotal point for clamping the wire onthe body member and having means adjacent its other end for directattachment to the trolley wire after the lever has rotated the cam intoclamping position, and an integral lug on said body member adapted to bebent across the path of movement of said lever to lock it in position.

29. The combination of a body member adapted for attachment to a trolleywire and having a channelV therein for the wire, a separate detachablewear extension adapted to be fastened on the trolleywire at the end ofsaid body member, a rotary cam formed on said wear extension andpivotally mounted on said body member for .clamping the wire in itschannel, and an integral lug on the body member adapted to be bentacross the path of movement of said wire eXtension to retain it inposition.

.In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 5th day of April, A.D. 1912.

WILLARD H. KEMPTON.

Witnesses:

JQRowLAND BROWN, J. C. PAINTER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

